United States Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 633 public colleges in the United States with the lowest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. University of California Los Angeles leads the list by accepting 9% of high school students that applied.

Acceptance rate is a measure of the competitiveness of a school. Lower acceptance rates are more competitive and may require a higher GPA, SAT/ACT score, and other factors to be considered for admission.

List of United States Public Colleges Ranked by Lowest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
University of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore, Maryland	72%
Saginaw Valley State University University Center, Michigan	72%
University of Missouri Kansas City Kansas City, Missouri	72%
SUNY Maritime College Throggs Neck, New York	72%
University of Rhode Island Kingston, Rhode Island	72%
University of Memphis Memphis, Tennessee	72%
University of North Texas Denton, Texas	72%
James Madison University Harrisonburg, Virginia	72%
Purdue University Northwest Hammond, Indiana	72%
Central Connecticut State University New Britain, Connecticut	73%
Indiana University Northwest Gary, Indiana	73%
Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana	73%
Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, Missouri	73%
SUNY Buffalo State University Buffalo, New York	73%
University of South Carolina Beaufort Bluffton, South Carolina	73%
Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas	73%
New College of Florida Sarasota, Florida	73%
University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas	74%

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: August 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.